Exhibit: Daruma seven and eleven

"Ghostly." "Monolithic." "Waiting to hatch." These are a few of the reactions that Nathan Suter's sculptural pieces have evoked in passersby. According to Suter, "I think of Daruma seven and eleven as game pieces that are larger than we—the players—are. Their size and texture resist our grasp. They obstruct our vision and our movement, dampen sound, and are difficult to move singlehandedly. Similar to the mathematics I used to design these pieces, they are man-made attempts to describe what is beyond human scale."

By the way, the story of Daruma, the Japanese deity, and the Daruma doll figured into the first UC Merced Commencement. Is there any connection between Suter's sculptures and the Daruma doll? You, the visitor, are invited to decide.